Another Side
by Alex Ultra
Summary: Ranma has a chance enounter with a Pearl in Cologne's care.  What happens from then on... puts him and many others in mortal danger.  And what of Akane?


                Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2... so stop asking me to make you some pictures... I can't even draw that well.  T.T

                Enjoy.

~~~~~~***   ANOTHER SIDE   ***~~~~~~

                Ranma was walking down the street along the sidewalk.  'Walking' because there were no fences here.

                His strides were purposeful and somewhat forceful.  He held no uncertainty in his walk.  The only thing on his mind was that mantra that he kept repeating in the almost echoing recesses of his mind.

                'Gallon of milk, loaf of bread, papayas, and lettuce, not the head.'

                And being one lost within his own mind, it didn't take long for him to get lost in the living jungle that is Tokyo.

                'Gallon of milk, loaf of bread, papayas, and lettuce, not the head.'

                *Jingle*

                He came into a store that didn't look anything like the place he had been intending to go. 'But... this isn't the grocery shop.  This is...'

                "Nihao!  Ranma come for another lunch?"

                Ranma's dumbstruck grin told volumes.  Anyone with half a brain could tell that he had not intended to come here, and that he didn't feel very comfortable with the purple-haired Amazon.

                Unfortunately, Shampoo showed no intention of using that half of her brain... if she had it.  "Yes!  Ranma come sit and have much food!"

                Ranma was already fighting a losing battle as the overzealous Amazon dragged him to a table.  "No, Shampoo, there's somewhere I really need to be!"

                Shampoo halted for a moment, giving Ranma a much-needed pause.  "Where you need to be?"

                Ranma opened his mouth to say something... but nothing came out.  For the life of him, he couldn't remember what he was supposed to be getting!  "Um... we needed... something... from the food store..."

                Shampoo smiled.  "You can get food from store after you get food from shop!" Shampoo made a place for him at one of the tables.

                Shrugging, Ranma sat.  'It's still early, Kasumi shouldn't be needing any of those... something for another coupla hours yet.'

                After a while of sitting, Ranma got bored.  'I wonder where the old ghoul is...'

                Without a word, Ranma got up and walked to the back of the building in which the Cat Cafe had been set up.

                In the back, he saw three doors.  Two looked pretty bland, just regular doors.  The third door seemed like it had been pulled out and replaced with a pair of beaded curtains, which were now pulled and tied to the side.  'Hmm, I'll bet she's in there.'

                Going inside, keeping with his ever-insistent ploy to try to surprise the old ghoul, he found a hunched-over form looking intently into something that somehow didn't seem too interesting to Ranma.  It looked like a regular old crystal ball.

                Smiling, Ranma tapped Cologne on the shoulder.  "Hey, old ghoul!"

                Surprised, Cologne turned around just as a bright flash emitted from the ball, hitting Ranma square in the face.

                Wide-eyed, Cologne tried to cover the ball, uselessly fussing with her hands, but it was to no avail.  With the light gone, so was Ranma.

                About twenty seconds later, Shampoo stood beside the door and called into the room.  "Great-grandmother?  Did you see Ranma?  He no at his table." Shampoo's tone sounded more disappointed than worried.

                Cologne's voice came back out to the younger Amazon, shaky and unsure.  "Shampoo, gather the Tendos and that fool-panda."

                Shampoo was never one to question her great-grandmother, but this sounded a little too sudden for her.  "This is about Ranma?"

                "Yes, and make sure they know that."

                Shampoo left immediately.

~~

                Ranma was struck wordless.

                For a moment, he was afraid that he had been blinded by the beam of light, but after a bit of working he finally got his eyes to see once more.

                Right away he could tell something was wrong.  For some reason, he seemed to be in a closet, or a storage room.

                Stumbling out of the room, he heard a few voices in the background.

                "Thank you and come again!"

                *Jingle*

                Walking out of the storeroom, he noticed a few things.

                1. He was no longer in the Cat Cafe. 2. He was now in a grocery store, surrounded by the dairy section. 3. He just remembered what it was that he needed to get here.

                'I musta ate too much... or fell asleep waitin.  Might as well get this over with.' Reaching into one of the doors, Ranma pulled out a half-gallon container of 1% milk.

                After a couple of minutes he had everything he needed, and decided to go up to the counter to pay for it.

                Behind the counter was a man he had never seen before.  But this was fairly common when one got oneself lost, so he just went with it and dumped the articles on the counter.

                The man behind the counter first looked at the articles, so deftly dumped out on the counter, then up at the young man who had placed them there.

                After a moment or so, he began to stutter out a few incomprehensible syllables.  "F-forty, huhhhh... six."

                Ranma shuffled through his wallet, finding two twenties, and a five.  "I have forty five."

                'OH GOD!!'  "Oh, that's no problem!  Just take them, please!  I don't mind!" Ranma could detect a few beads of sweat coursing down the side of the man's face.

                "Uh, are you sure?  'Cause I coul-" Ranma was just looking over his things when the man began fumbling with his cash-register.

                "Here!  It's all I've got!  If that's enough, can you please leave?  Please?" The man seemed to be begging for Ranma to go, which disturbed him to no end.

                Raising one eyebrow, Ranma leaned in toward the man.  "Is someone threatening you?  'Cause if they are, I can be a great bodyguard!" Ranma pulled out one of his arms and flexed his muscles just for illustration.

                "NO!  I-I mean, no, th-thank you." The man was still sitting in the somewhat protective position, seeming to be doing his best to keep Ranma as happy as possible.

                "Um, okay... I'll just... go." Ranma didn't catch the smile that played across the manager's eyes as he picked up his food, leaving what little money he had on the counter, and walked out the door.

                He was _very_ glad now, that he had purchased that special alarm system, the one with two switches.  The blue one on the left, labeled panic, was for when an armed robber came into the store demanding anything from money to a candy bar.  The red one, however, was a bit more specific.

                *Jingle*

                Outside the door, Ranma ran up against a number of tanks and police-vehicles.  A few of the men were whispering among each other excitedly.

                Ranma didn't like the look of things, these guys were decked out to the max, and didn't seem too confident that they could come out alive.  'More demons?'

                Putting on a serious-yet-helpful look, Ranma called out to the men.  "Hey!  What's going on?  Can I help?"

                After a few moments, a man holding a loudspeaker walked close to the closest edge of the mass of police.  Speaking into the other end, he confidently held his position.  "Ranma Saotome.  By the power of the United Tokyo Militant Police Task Force, you are under arrest."

                The clicking of a few dozen high-power rifles told him that they were not kidding.  By way of first-reaction, Ranma put his hands into the air.  "Hey!  He told me to take 'em!  I tried to pay, but he wouldn't let me!  And I was only a yen short, I can pay him back."

                As the sound of tanks running slowly drummed on, Ranma really felt lost.

                The store manager had, somehow, managed to crawl out the back door to his store.  He probably wouldn't be able to work there anymore, but that was a small price to pay.

                But then... if everything went well, then the investment to have that second button put in would pay off well.  Labeled 'RS', it was specifically meant to catch the demon himself... Ranma Saotome.

                One of the officers, normally steeled against all threats, began to shake uncontrollably.

                After a few moments, he began shouting and shooting, directly at Ranma.

                "Whoa!" Ranma suddenly found himself dodging some seven-thousand bullets per second.  This was suddenly amplified when the tanks suddenly showed evidence of being ready to fire.

                Making a quick decision, Ranma jumped into the air, so as to reduce property damage, he redirected their fire until it was above the building.  Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled out.  "Hey!  Up here!"

                The tanks did move their barrels in time to avoid making rubble out of the grocery store, but also managed to miss terribly.

                Ranma smirked confidently as he nimbly dodged each shot.

                The explosions behind him were of little consequence, but the acid rain that they caused was a little more important.  'Are they INSANE!?'

                Suddenly feeling a bit more serious, Ranma descended upon them.

                Just the sight of Ranma looking serious made some of the men on the ground afraid, but others felt delighted that they had forced him to be serious.

                But these feelings were short-lived as Ranma came down atop one of the tanks.  Before anyone could respond, he suddenly cut the barrel of the cannon right in half.  Sending another slash downward, he cut the tank itself right in half, using one foot to push one half backward.

                He went through a number of fast, almost light-speed movements, the results of which seemed catastrophic.  Every single one of the tanks was either cut down, or incapacitated.

                And as if just to be thorough, Ranma then went to removing the clips on each officer's rifle.  Within moments, the United Tokyo Militant Police Task Force was reduced to a bunch of men in black armor and useless hunks of metal, some of which had fluid leaking out of it.

                Before leaving, Ranma stopped in the street, standing on one foot.  "Man!  You guys are dangerous!" Looking to one of the adjacent roofs, Ranma leapt away.

~~

                "You don't understand, mister Saotome!  This is far more important than any agreement!" Cologne was trying desperately to make the fathers realize the gravity of their current situation.

                Nabiki seemed fully interested.  "So tell me, Miss Cologne.  Why is it that the Amazon's have such a thing?"

                Suon was crying something about "The poor child!  Why must everything happen to my boy!?"

                Genma was trying to cheer his friend, saying that he didn't raise the boy to not know ways of getting out of every situation.

                "Well, Miss Tendo, if you must know, it is for training.  But it is so mentally rigorous, that it was long ago banned to anyone who was not directly approved by one of the elders, or an elder themselves."

                Nabiki looked over the cream-colored ball on the table.  "But it doesn't _look_ all that dangerous..."

                "Looks can be deceiving, young Tendo, you should know that."

                Nabiki leaned back into her chair.  "Yes, I do.  But what do you want from us?  What can _we_ do?"

                Cologne smiled.  "Help me get him back."

                Akane only fumed over the fact that Ranma had been in the Cat Cafe when he should have been getting groceries for Kasumi.

~~

                'Man, what the heck was _that_ about!?  Couldn't be about the stupid bread?' Ranma was walking down the street, trying to clear his head.

                As he walked into a slightly more populated section of the city, he ended up coming toward a small crowd.  'Probably rush-hour or somethin... man, I still need to get this stuff to Kasumi!'

                Still not feeling like running, and still ticked about the incident at the store, Ranma just decided to keep walking.

                The closer he got, the more people noticed him.  And their reaction confused him to no end.

                At first glance, they barely reacted.  It was only after a moment of wide-eyed staring that they realized what they were looking at.

                Shrill screams were heard in the streets of the Nerima district as people ran in a panic for their lives, leaving the black-haired boy in a completely and utterly confused state.

                In this state, he failed to notice the blind old lady watering her flowers.

                *Splash*

                "Pttht!  Ptoie!" Ranma looked down at her body.  "Great, and there _had_ to be dirt with it too!" 'Now my shirt's covered in mud... oh well.'

                Noticing the old lady only now, she got a bit closer as she had her back turned to fill her watering can.  "Hey... how come you didn't run from all the screaming and such?"

                The old lady suddenly turned around and started walking, only to fall over backward when she found her path to be blocked.  "Oh!  I'm sorry!  I didn't see you there!  I didn't get any water on you, did I?"

                "Uh, no... well, actually yes but..."

                "Oh, I'm sorry, let me get my hearing aide..." The old woman pulled out what looked like a large horn and put the small end to her ear.  "Now, what was it you were saying?"

                Ranma smiled.  Raising her voice, she tried to make sure the old woman could hear her. "Oh nothing, it's fine.  Are you okay?"

                "Oh yes.  Such a nice child, so unlike that Ranma person.  I sincerely hope The Hands chop him up good!"

                Ranma was shell-shocked.  Was she talking about her?  Well, him anyway.  "Uh, yeah.  Look, I gotta go now, sorry to disturb you." Ranma didn't wait for a response before she left.

                Back on the street now, she decided she really needed to check in on the Tendos, and didn't waste any time getting there.

~~

                "So you see, it really isn't all that dangerous, so long as it's used correctly."

                Nabiki mulled over the information she had just been fed.  With all the talk about negatives, and traps, and gateways, she really didn't see how Cologne needed their help. "Alright, so it's not that dangerous when used right.  But since it wasn't used right, you need help to fix it; but what kind of help?"

                Cologne picked up the ball and held it in the air.  "You see, the real problem isn't that he's there; it's getting the gateway to go there again.  Normally, the only one who can make it go to the place he went, is him.  There are several for each person, and only that person can go there.  But for someone else to find him requires several people, all of whom know him, and want to find him.  But we need to keep in mind that we need to find the _original_." Cologne sighed.  "I just hope we can get things together quickly enough to do so before..."

                Nabiki allowed Cologne to hold the 'before' in, but it allowed her to assume the worst.

~~

                *Knock knock*

                Ranma didn't have to wait long before Kasumi opened the door.  Why did she knock?  Because of the sign that said 'Knock before entering.'

                "Kasumi!  Kami am I glad to see you!  Something really wier-"

                Kasumi broke tradition and interrupted the flame-haired girl in the middle of her sentence.  "Are you here to try out for The Hands?"

                Ranma was lost for a moment, but nodded numbly anyway.  "Uh, yeah, sure..."

                "Then follow me." Kasumi turned around and began leading Ranma into the house.

                Ranma wasn't prepared for what he saw.  Right away, she could tell that this wasn't the house she had left only a few minutes before.  On the walls were all types of deadly blades, and even a few other weapons he didn't recognize.

                She could see sacks of grenades, rocket-launchers, and strange sticks that couldn't even be called swords.  Somewhere along the hall, she could have sworn that she saw what looked like a number of headbands!

                Too confused to come up with anything interesting to say, Ranma just followed.

                At the end of a long hallway, which seemed to have been going down for quite some time, Kasumi stopped and pushed aside a curtain, revealing a door to a wide-open room.

                Inside, she saw something she never expected to see... ever!

                In the middle of the arena-sized room was Suon, leading several people (mostly kids her age) through a number of katas.  He looked perfectly serious, and was surprising Ranma with his level of concentration.

                Kasumi pointed to her father.  "If you wish to join The Hands, my father there will judge you on skill.  After that, I'm afraid it's up to mister Kuno." Bowing slightly, Kasumi left Ranma alone in the room.

                Ranma didn't really think it wise to interrupt Suon when he seemed so intent, so she simply went into a similar kata to pass the time.

                With all that was going on, she started to lose track of the time, and simply fell into one of her older katas.  While it was so used that she could (literally) perform it in her sleep, it was also the one that relaxed her the most.

                Focusing a bit of energy into her extremities, she began to perform a few spins; rising and falling while going in a circular motion and launching punches constantly at one point.

                'Why was everyone so afraid of me?  I'll bet it has something to do with that ball the old ghoul had.  Yeah, this must be like a dream world, which means that anything could happen.  And in this world, I'm a murderous monster.  But I don't feel any different... maybe there's another me out there?  Weird, but I've seen worse.  And Suon being serious is _really_ tellin me this ain't the right Tokyo anymore.'

                As she picked up just a little bit of speed, she continued to go over her situation.  'But no one seems to recognize me in cursed form.  Does that mean that the other me isn't cursed?  That could be it.'

                Sighing, she changed her form to a more ground-oriented one, just because she still felt she needed some more practice toward the ground.  'So what am I going to do about it?  Honor tells me I should go defeat him, but is it good to try to defeat myself?  I mean, I know how strong _I _am, but I'm not sure how strong _I _am.  And besides that, I wouldn't know what to do with him.  I don't think I have the heart to kill him, even with all he's done, but there may not be another way.'

                Another train of thought practically forced its way into her mind.  'But then again, just judging by everyone's reaction, he is purposely making these people fear him.  And the level of fear says that he's probably killed a few people already...' Even in her own mind, the tone of sadness and hurt reverberated and echoed about. 'And I doubt that there's anyone here who can actually face him down.  Which means, that it's up to me to stop him...

                'No matter what.'

                Having made up her mind, Ranma stopped in her katas; slowly stopping her movements and moving to a straight-up pose.  Taking a deep breath, she refocused on the here and now.

                Turning around, she saw Suon, and all his students, gawking at her for some reason.  "What?"

                Suon was the first to regain his composure.  "Ahem, young lady, you said you were here to join The Hands?"

                'The Hands?'  "Um, yeah sure.  But what is The Hands, and what are you trying to do?"

                Suon smiled, although he felt somewhat confused that this girl had never heard of The Hands.  "Well, 'The Hands' is short for 'The Hands of Justice'.  And our goal is to bring justice to those who need it.  And as our first major act, we are going to seek out and destroy the foul demon known as Ranma S-Saotome." Suon's voice cracked at the mentioning of Ranma's family name.

                This brought up another topic to Ranma.  "And what about his father?"

                Suon became like a statue of stone; barely able to move, and stiff as a rock.  "Dead.  He was killed by his own son's hand.  That was a good and honorable man, and my personal friend."

                'Honorable... peh!' "And I suppose you swore vengeance?"

                Suon shook his head.  "No, I didn't hear of it for a long time, although that is of little consequence.  First, you must be tested before you can be allowed into The Hands." Suon gestured for one of the teens behind him to step forward.

                Ranma didn't recognize him, but could tell that he was of uncanny ability.  Still, there was that nagging question.  "Hey, are you stronger than he is?"

                The kid was surprised for a moment, then shook his head.  As he did, his brown locks swayed gently around his head.  'I feel like I should know him, but I can't think of a name!  Oh well...'

                Turning to Suon, Ranma addressed him directly.  "I'd like to challenge you, mister Tendo.  I'd like to know just how strong you are."

                Suon chuckled.  "Hehe, I think it would be wise if you were to fight young Terri first."

                "Alright, but then I face you." Ranma looked confidently at Suon, who only smirked.

                "One thing at a time, young one."

                With a confident smirk, Ranma took a wide-open pose, allowing her attacker all sorts of room for attack.

                But Terri wasn't going to be fooled by the tactic; he had seen her practicing and knew that she was better than that.  As a response to Ranma's gesture, he calmly slipped into a basic defensive pose.

                Slightly surprised, Ranma smiled.  "Heh, at least you've got some discipline.  And you aren't falling apart around girls either.  Oh well, I still give you about ten seconds."

                Although Ranma noticed a slight twinge when she mentioned the oh-so-wide-spread problem between boys and girls, the Terri kid continued to be straight-faced, almost sad-looking in his emotionlessness.

                After about five seconds of nothing, Terri charged with incredible suddenness, his arm pulled back for a punch.

                Ranma was far more than ready for him, and allowed him into her space as she backed away only slightly.

                The two of them went through a number of maneuvers; Terri swinging and kicking with veritable force as Ranma dodged and parried with equal quickness.  She wasn't going to keep it in, Terri had skill.  He also had focus, and deserved to be taken seriously, even if only for this.

                Thirty punches and twenty kicks were set out by the young boy.  He even used his body as a larger weapon from time to time.  He sent about thirty percent of his hits for the mid-section; twenty percent for each the legs and the head; and another thirty were meant to catch his opponent in the back, spinning around and striking backward.

                Ranma didn't totally recognize the style, but he could tell that it was mostly ground-based.  Meant for speed and leverage against the ground.  It also had hints of Anything Goes, as would make sense with Suon as the teacher, but it seemed to be mostly Anti-Anything Goes.

                But despite that, Ranma was far beyond simple Anything Goes, and she never received a single hit.  She was, however, glad that she had been practicing in staying closer to the ground.

                After just one second, their encounter was over and they separated.

                Terri was focused intently on Ranma's eyes, the sad look gone and his chest moving forcefully with each breath.

                Ranma's gaze was more like that of a teacher sizing up her student, she was also breathing with some effort, though it was clear that she was still quite capable of doing it all over again, and several hours more.

                For a moment, Ranma stood still, but then she smirked.  "You're fast, and you're pretty strong too, I could see it in each of your hits.  Your focus is like nothing else I've ever seen and you seem determined.  If you were to expand your styles, you might overcome your only obstacles."

                Terri smirked back to her.  "Hehe, well?  It's been ten seconds!"

                Ranma watched as Terri suddenly seemed to black out.  "Yes, it has, hasn't it?"

                All those who had been watching were left speechless.  Ranma hadn't seen _this_ much fuss over a win since the first time she beat Kuno!

                'Which reminds me.' Turning to find Suon, she smiled at him.  "Well Suon?  Are you ready?"

                He was already in a defensive pose, ready for anything she could send his way.

                Even as a few of the students chattered among themselves, Ranma took note of Suon's pose.  Despite its looks, it was actually quite strong, especially against Anything-Goes.

                Adjusting her own pose to compensate, she stood to stare him down.

                After a few moments of looking each other over, they both came to one conclusion:  their opponent should not be underestimated.

                Ranma noted the way Suon was standing, and which muscles were most primed.  But by studying his aura, she could tell that he was hiding several different maneuvers that covered the obvious weaknesses of his pose.

                Neither side really felt a good time to attack, but they both knew that if neither of them attacked first, then they would never actually get started.

                "To have defeated my best student, then you must have gotten some rather extensive training.  Tell me, where did you get your training?"

                Ranma didn't even flinch.  "... I've been trained by people from all over the world, in all different kinds of combat."

                Suon looked at the girl before him.  "Tell me... do you have a brother?"

                Ranma shook her head.  "But you tell me... you plan to kill someone called Ranma?  I can see that.  But how is it that he hasn't already come here to stop you?"

                Suon smiled.  "Perhaps later I'll tell you." He shifted his pose slightly, ready to begin the fight.  "But first, WE FIGHT!"

                Suon came rushing down on Ranma, who dropped to one knee and to the side to avoid his kick.

                As she came around his side, Ranma let out with a kick aimed for the stout man's stomach.

                Suon would have caught the foot, had he not seen the forward kick that the side-long one had been hiding.  Instead, he simply backed away and lowered his center of gravity.

                Ranma didn't have much time to adjust herself before Suon used the increased leverage to gain on her with even more speed than before.

                As Ranma came off the floor, Suon appeared under her, using his hands to shove his back into Ranma's face with significant force.  The hit wasn't all that unexpected, and Ranma already had a counter ready, using the leverage she had on one foot to shove the other knee into his stomach.

                As Suon seemed to hover for a moment, Ranma let out with another knee to the stomach that sent him a few meters into the air.

                As the 'audience' gasped, Ranma leapt after Suon.

                Going to basic Anything Goes, she readied an obvious right-hand punch aimed for his chest.

                When Suon attempted to counter by intercepting her fist with one of his own, Ranma immediately snapped to the hidden attack she had prepared.

                With a resounding *CRACK*, Ranma hit Suon's lower arm some four-thousand times.  All this as she continued to near him in the air.

                Suon may have been surprised, but was still ready to parry the girl's second attack.

                Ranma noted the fist holding her left hand in place, and decided she might as well show him why that was a bad idea.

                "HA!"

                A bright white flash erupted from within Suon's hand, sending him careening toward the ceiling clutching his charred hand with his bruised one.

                When he reached the iron scaffolding that was the ceiling, he grabbed on and regarded the form still on the ground.

                Ranma noted the way he held onto the ceiling, and decided that he wouldn't be coming down anytime soon. 'What's a little property damage?'

                Leaping up toward her opponent, she feigned a kick, only to spin around once more and hit him with an anchored punch to the chest; sending him into and through the ceiling.

                Ranma noted the three meters of dirt and stone that the two of them went through on their way to what seemed to be the surface.

                They ended up in a park with no trees some hundred meters behind the Tendo household.

                As Suon landed, he took a quick look at the hole his body had made; where Ranma had just crawled out to face him down.

                Ranma took a long pose with one arm out front and her other arm curved around the back of her head.  "Underground?  Isn't that kinda cliché?  And I still wonder how the heck you expected to be safe?"

                Suon flinched momentarily as he flexed both hands.  "In a moment, I'll tell you.  But not until this fight is over." Suon began to smile seemingly for no reason.

                Ranma smirked.  "If you've got any other tricks up your sleeves, now's the time to pull 'em out.  Otherwise admit defeat."

                Suon shook his head.  "It isn't that.  It's just that I haven't had a workout like this in decades."

                Ranma smiled again.  "Well then, what do you say to us taking it a bit farther?"

                Suon opened his eyes, looking shocked for a moment.

                Ranma began shouting as a white glow enveloped her completely. "AH!!  COME ON!  I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!!"

                Ranma didn't actually know, but rather took a wild stab at the idea.  She wasn't surprised, though, when Suon actually did match her aura in intensity and color.

                "Fine then, I won't take it easy on you." Suon gave no warning as he suddenly charged on Ranma.

                Ranma had almost no time at all before Suon was on her; but at this level, almost no time is close to an eternity.

                The only indication to the outside world that anything was going on, was the odd glow that seemed to emanate from the entire area, and the small pieces of dirt and grass that flew up into the air from time to time.

                And Ranma was having the time of her life.  "MOKO TAKABISHA!!"

                Suon blocked the exceptional ball of energy and called up one of his own.  "SEARING LIGHT!"

                Ranma saw the ball headed for her and countered with another move.  Bringing her hands down forcefully over her head, she cast forth a powerful wave of energy.  "FORCE WINDS!" The winds stopped the ball long enough for Ranma to leave its path, and then turned back in the opposite direction, accelerating the ball on its original path.

                Once within hand-to-hand range, Ranma favored Suon with a series of super-sonic punches aimed for his entire body.  Yet somehow, Suon managed to deflect the majority of the blows, and only had to block about a third of them.

                After Ranma's assault ended, Suon came back in full force with a powerful punch, which brought with it a wave of energy that pushed the redheaded girl back several meters.

                As Ranma skidded to a stop, she noticed the presence of another person closing in on their position.

                *SHING!!*

                At the last moment, she managed to dodge to the side just before being chopped in half by a long silver blade.

                Kuno was not stopped, however, as he used the momentum of his landing to bring his blade into a side-long swing for Ranma just at her neck-level.

                Ranma was still faster than him, however, and managed to get to a safe distance to stare down her new opponent.

                Kuno stopped for a moment as he saw the one that had been his target.  "You are not the demon Saotome.  Who are you?"

                Ranma was flabbergasted.  "Hey, since when did you get so fast?  And why aren't you spouting poetry?  Or proclaiming your love for me!?"

                Kuno growled.  "That is not an answer!  What is your name!?"

                Ranma flipped her pigtail over her shoulder.  "That's not your concern.  Now if you don't mind, I would like to finish my fight with mister Tendo now."

                Ranma turned back to Suon as Kuno absorbed the information that he had just been fed, or had just inferred.

                'It is true, that all I saw was the black pants and red shirt.  But truly, that is not Saotome!  Even _with_ that pigtail, and those eyes!' Kuno favored the girl a closer look. 'The build is different, but...' Kuno's eyes went wide as he watched her in action.  'That style!  It's unmistakable!'

                Ranma noticed the speed at which Kuno suddenly started to move toward her.

                *TANG!!*

                In one hand, Ranma had the blade's edge of Kuno's sword held firm.  In the other hand, she had Suon's foot in a strong grip.

                As Suon decided to back down, Kuno's eyes filled with renewed hatred.  "Saotome!!!" He said each syllable as if it was a curse.  "First you turn to murdering women and children, and now you take the form of one!"

                Ranma wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but decided that _this _Kuno wasn't half bad, and also wasn't babbling like an idiot.  This Kuno simply didn't sound as if he was babbling to hear himself talk.

                Hatred and poison filled his voice.  "You foul, sorcerous demon!  I shall smite you, _once and for all!_"

                Kuno and Ranma together were suddenly surrounded by a flaming blue aura, edged in red.  Ranma looked from Kuno to the ground as she spoke slowly, yet forcefully, with an extreme sadness in her voice.  "Women and children, huh?  ... More the reason to find him, I suppose."

                Confusion mixed with the hatred still playing across Kuno's face.  Ranma faced him slowly, yet seriously.  "Tell me... what about Akane?"

                Kuno sneered.  "Dead, by your hand!  What trickery is this Ranma!?"

                Kuno wasn't prepared for the surprised look that suddenly shot across Ranma's face.  That sickening feeling suddenly washed over the pigtailed girl as she held fast to Kuno's blade.

                As Kuno tried to free his sword from Ranma's grasp, Ranma decided that he didn't need it anymore.

                For a moment, a strange blue light overcame the sword.  After a few seconds, Ranma suddenly pushed down on the blade near the hilt.

                *Snap*

                A clean break near the hilt of the sword left Kuno on the ground with little more than a handle left.

                Ranma dropped the rest of the blade next to Kuno.  Almost immediately the grass seemed to grow a layer of white frost.

                Ranma turned slowly to Suon, no longer in the mood to play.  "Suon, tell me.  And don't say you don't know, just please.  Why hasn't Ranma attacked you yet?  I know he can't be intimidated by you, so why hasn't he attacked?"

                Suon smirked.  "Even if he were to come here, and try to attack, he would not survive the front door.  Every entrance is booby-trapped with implements deadlier than any other.  And beyond that, each student and sensei is armed to the teeth with all types of weaponry." Before Ranma's eyes, Suon produced a long blade from his left sleeve, and a thick-barreled gun from his right.

                Ranma sighed.  "If you truly expect me to believe that, then you are still a fool."

                Another voice joined them, seeming to come out of the woodwork.  "Or maybe, I simply allowed them to think they were doing something important.  That I _allowed _them all the time in the world to prepare, because they _still_ aren't any match for me!  And that the _only_ reason I'm here now, is because of you?"

                Ranma turned around slowly, already knowing who it was that was talking.  Once he was in sight, Ranma was seeing a mirror-image of her male half!

~~

                Cologne nearly had the location down.  They had to get the ball in just the right place, otherwise it wouldn't be able to retrieve him!

                "Let's just hope that he doesn't find his negative.  If they come together..."

                Shampoo almost reeled at the thought.  That she may never see her good friend Ranma again... was unacceptable.

                Nabiki was also worried, if only for her cash flow.

                The fathers truly wanted Ranma back as well, if only because Akane would be widowed if he didn't come back.

                And Akane... she wanted him back, part so she could mallet him for being such a jerk.  But that other part of her just wanted to hold him, to know that he wouldn't be gone forever.

                She wanted her husband back.

~~

                There he was, standing with a confident air and a vicious smirk.  He was standing there, looking as if he felt as if _he_ owned the entire world!  "You see, from what I've felt, you are the strongest one here, and the only one who might, one day, be able to give me a real fight." He looked directly into his counterpart's eyes with a look that told of evil intent.  "That can't be allowed."

                As the 'real' Ranma prepared for an attack, the double pulled up a high-powered aura, full of hatred and malice.

                The black light that filled the air felt so cold against Ranma's skin that she could have sworn she was in a freezer.

                And for the first time, Kuno, Suon, and all the rest of The Hands of Justice, saw just how badly they had underestimated their target of four years.

                After only a moment, he pulled up an aura that put anything they had ever made to shame.  It darkened the small 'valley' and put a black cloak over the sky.

                But Ranma wasn't impressed.  For once, she felt that subtlety wasn't going to win the fight, and wouldn't be a good idea.

                As the blue/white light surrounded her, it took on a flame-like shape and seemed to pulse inward.

                The overall effect was like watching a fight between a demon and an angel, each using their respective energies.  The female's a white, heavenly light; the male's a dark, all engulfing blackness full of all the darkest feelings known to man.

~~

                "There, it's responding." Cologne set the pearl-colored ball on a small nick in a large stone they found in the middle of a city park.  As she did, an image began to play across the screen.

                On it, all of those present could see a dark sky, and two Ranma's ready to face off.

                As they watched the seeming non-event play out on the ball, it formed several cracks, which crept slowly across the surface.

                Before their very eyes, the cream-colored sphere shattered in a bright explosion, leaving everyone stunned for a moment, Cologne especially.

                "N-no!"

                As everyone there tried to make sense of it all, they suddenly seemed to have been put directly into the scene that they had been watching only moments before.

                Shampoo looked around with a questioning look.  Upon spotting the female Ranma, she ran to her, trying to console the 'good' Ranma.

                However, she didn't make contact with anything solid, and simply fell through her.

                "They are not truly here, and so they can not hear or see us.  We can only see them, as the power of the Pearl still lingers in this place..."

                Akane's voice was shaky for a moment.  "B-but what about...?"

                "Ranma?" Cologne sighed.  "I'm afraid... it's up to him now."

                Realizing that there was now nothing they could do, they all simply turned to watch as the events played out.

~~

                Ranma was WAY past fuming.  She was at a level of furious that Akane would have been jealous of, if she had been there.

                If she had been alive.  For a moment, her voice came out only in a whisper.  "Monster..." Gaining strength, she challenged the dark copy of herself.  "I won't allow you to leave this place!  For what you've done, and to prevent you from doing it again, I will stop you!"  Her eyes were glowing a bright blue-purple as she glared at her darkened double.  "No matter what it takes."

                The black-haired boy growled as he laughed.  "You dare challenge a GOD!?"

                As Ranma pushed herself to new heights, she smirked confidently.  "It wouldn't be the first time, but no.  You are nothing but a man who lost track of reality, and morality."

                The double smiled viciously.  "Hah, the rantings of a bug about to be crushed!  AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" As he shouted out a battle-cry to make most barbarians jealous, the dark Ranma pulled forth even more energy.  As he did, it circulated and flowed so forcefully that, closer to his body, the very ground was ripped and shredded.

                With a wild look in his eyes, the black-cloaked one launched himself after the redheaded girl.

                Ranma saw the tactic, and knew it all too well.  Rather than moving to the side, she jumped into the air some twenty meters.

                Noticing the girl's ascent, Dark Ranma jumped after her, carrying his entire aura with him.

                Responding quickly, Ranma brought in her arms and spun around, lashing out with a kick when her opponent was within range.

                But when it was blocked, and even reflected, she pulled back the force of it and swung around to try to hit him with another kick from the side.

                Dark Ranma parried the hit with his knee and lashed out with a powerful uppercut meant for the girl's stomach.

                His hit was blocked by Ranma's knee just as she brought both her fists down atop his head.

                Dark Ranma parried the blow with his left forearm and lashed out with another swing for her stomach.

                Ranma used the inside of her elbow to grab the opposing arm as she spun to avoid the hit.  Using her other hand for leverage, she pulled on her opponent's arm and swung him around so that he was flying past her.

                Not beat yet, Dark Ranma reached out with his free hand and grabbed onto Ranma's closest arm, using it to throw her in the direction she had tried to throw him.

                But she quickly used her legs to grab around his knee, and used the leverage to pull him back in for a powerful downward punch to his forehead.

                The recoil from the surprising blow sent Dark Ranma careening into the ground as Ranma landed lightly, her aura still burning a bright blue/white.

~~

                Genma was beginning to sweat.  'Since when did he improve that much?  And which one should I be rooting for, anyway?'

                Shampoo was also confused, but was slightly more verbal of this fact.  "Did anyone see what just happened?"

                Cologne nodded.  "Yes child.  They seem to be even."

                Shampoo sweatdropped.  "They are moving too too fast for me to follow."

                Akane's angry gaze moved from one Ranma to the other, anxiously awaiting the next attack.  'How come he never showed _me_ he could do that?'

~~

                Dark Ranma smirked.  "Is that all you've got?"

                Ranma wasn't smiling, but was still as confident as ever.  "Not even close."

                *BAM*

                Faster than any of the others could blink, Ranma's fist was suddenly where Dark Ranma's face had once been, and Dark Ranma was slowly floating backward.

                Not finished yet, Ranma went at her double again, using speed acquired long ago to assault her target with thousands of hits to each of his criticals.

                To end the series, Ranma suddenly appeared behind her opponent and kneed him in the back of the head, following it with a powerful hit between the shoulder blades that sent him flying through the air.

                Dark Ranma scowled angrily as he flipped over on one hand to land on his feet.  Huffing slightly, he wiped a stream of blood from the corner of his mouth and glared at his well-built opponent.

                Suon was reeling.  "If she could do that all along, I'm proud to have lasted as long as I did!"

                The sound of laughing interrupted Suon's train of thought.  It was Ranma, his most hated enemy, laughing like there was something to laugh about.  "Haha!!  You fool!  She was playing with you that whole time!" Giving Ranma a vicious glare, he spoke again in a slightly more controlled voice.  "Just like I've been doing, up until now."

~~

                "Great Grandmother?  What's happening?"

                "I don't know child, but it doesn't look good."

                "But Ranma will be okay, yes?"

                Cologne turned her eye to the side to look at Shampoo.  "So long as they stay in opposite forms, there should be no problems.  But if Ranma stays as a girl, it is possible that he could lose anyway."

                Akane was already beginning to glow red just slightly.  'Ranma, you've been holding out on me!'

~~

                The look on Dark Ranma's face didn't look promising, but Ranma was used to people thinking too highly of themselves, so she wasn't affected by it.  Before he attacked, he smirked widely.  "First Gate."

                Ranma suddenly had to use all the speed at her disposal to fight off the punches and kicks being sent her way.  Truth be told, the several that made it through her defenses felt just as powerful as any of the other hits that the double had been swinging through the whole fight.

                And for a moment, she could have sworn that her double was making advances on her!

                Frustrated, and in need of some breathing room, Ranma decided that she could afford to use that new technique.  Turning so that her arm made an arc in front of her, she called out her attack.  "RED DRAGON!!!"

                Great waves of red-hot flames suddenly engulfed the entire area as Ranma made some room between her and her double.

~~

                Cologne was struck speechless.  "Did he learn to use Saffron's techniques?"

                "No." Cologne, and everyone else that was there, suddenly reeled at the appearance of another within their midst.  But Happosai was unnoticing of this, or pretended not to notice.  "That is the Red Dragon technique.  One of the Seven Dragons of Eternal Light that my brother made long ago."

                Nabiki was only slightly skeptical.  "I didn't know you had a brother, Happosai."

                "Heehee!  Did you truly think I could get so strong as I am without a sparring partner?  Although I wasn't aware that he was still alive, Ranma is lucky to know his techniques!"

                "And why is this?  Old man?" Shampoo really didn't feel too comfortable being around Happosai, especially without Ranma there to keep him away from her.

                "Hehe, well, my lovely young Amazon, this is because _his_ Wandering Dragon style was originally made to counter _my_ Anything Goes style!"

                Akane was still fuming a bit.  'At least he _showed_ me that one.  But I wish he would have taken the time to _teach_ it to me!'

~~

                After the flames died down, the Ranma double was left smoldering slightly, smoke emitting from the corners of his clothing as he still held his guard position protecting his head.  Looking up at Ranma, he smiled victoriously.  "Are you finished?"  His only answer was a slight tic under the pigtailed girl's left eye.  "Hehe, because I still have six gates left!"

                Ranma didn't want to show any anger, but couldn't help but snap at her 'double'.  "You can use all EIGHT gates for all I care!  It won't do you any good!"

                Dark Ranma was left staring incredulously at his opponent.  'Could she really be that dense?'

                "Uh, no, wait, I mean seven.  Unless you _have_ eight?  Cause then it still wouldn't do you any good!"

                The black-hearted one sneered as he pulled his hands to one side.  "Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

                Ranma saw what he was doing and put up a strong guard as she set up for an attack of her own.

                "Haha, let's see how you handle this!  SECOND GATE!!" As he seemed to crush a ball of dark energy between his hands, a series of bolts of black energy began pulsing all around his body, flowing and forcing their way into his muscles, making them bulge momentarily.

                Ranma saw the change, and decided it would be prudent to take the fight to the skies, and jumped a few stories above the ground, daring her opponent to follow.

~~

                All of those watching the show in the air around them stood in rapt attention, awaiting what would happen next.

                Both Ranma's had proven that they were capable of impressive surprises, but how long could it last?

                And for perhaps the first time, Akane felt totally helpless.  She couldn't even _yell_ at Ranma for his stupidity!  'Ranma, if you die, I am SO going to kill you!'

~~

                Ranma was reaching the top of her jump as the dark copy leapt off of the ground, leaving a crater behind and gaining on the redhead quickly.

                Ranma realized that the darker one was now far superior in strength, and maybe in speed as well, but she still had something up her sleeves.

                "AAAAAHHHH!!!!  DIE!!"

                Ranma spread out her arms, legs, and even her fingers as she charged the last little bit of energy into her attack.  "YELLOW DRAGON!!  HAAAAAA!!!!!"

                An incredible orb of bright yellow electricity began surging through the air around Ranma, engulfing the dark one and sending billions of volts through his system.

                To finish off the attack, Ranma forced the electrical energy back out of her opponent.  Throwing her hands downward, she shouted again.  "PURPLE DRAGON!!" A snaking coil of purple energy sprang forth, hitting dark Ranma and throwing him back toward the Earth under heightened gravity.

                As Dark Ranma slowly crawled out of the crater he made with his face, the dark energy that charged him dissipated.  "...darn you!  THIRD GATE!!"

                A bright pulse of crimson suddenly engulfed the pigtailed boy as he stood forcefully.  "TAKE THIS!!  HAAAAA!!!!!"

                Suddenly a powerful beam of crimson energy shot forth toward the girl still floating in the air.

                As she saw the head of the beam approach her, her pupils suddenly shrank.  'Oh shoot!  Think fast Ranma!'

                Pulling her fists back, she prepared to call upon another type of attack she learned only recently and wasn't too sure about.  "WING DRAGON!!"

                Large shining wings seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere, propelling the girl backward and out of the way of the beam.

                As she recovered from the searing heat that came off the side of the blast, she noticed a second blast coming toward her.

                Putting her hands forward, she called out another name.  "ORANGE DRAGON!!" The elongated face of an orange dragon seemed to appear in front of her, taking the brunt of the blast in the nose.

                As the attack hit, Dark Ranma had already begun to congratulate himself.  "Haha, let's see you survive THAT!"  
                But his celebrations were cut short when he noticed that his last attack had been split into seven, each of which were now flying uselessly in different directions.  "The Orange Dragon is like a shield!"  As she neared the ground, she pulled her fist forward once more, coming within centimeters of her double's face.  "But it's also a great WEAPON!  ORANGE DRAGON!!!"

                Suddenly the ground beneath him and the air around him seemed to be determined to slice him into seven pieces.

                Putting his hands up, he grabbed the sides of what was apparently the Dragon attack.  "FIFTH GATE!!"

                As his body was swallowed in shadow, the energy of the dragon seemed to be shredded and dispelled.  But Ranma quickly came the rest of the way down and rammed her knee into her opponent's face, sending him careening into and through the ground.

                As Dark Ranma pulled himself out of the dirt, he growled in frustration.  "Insignificant BUG!"

                Ranma waved off the insult like it was nothing.  "Bug, landling, wench, I've been called 'em all and it never really matters." Ranma smirked as a thought came to mind.  "Heck, I've even been called a 'Foul Sorcerer' several times, but I think _that_ fits _you_ much better!"

                Dark Ranma stood dangerously, waving his arms in a distinct pattern.  "Whether a bug or a rodent, I will still exterminate you." Putting his hands forward, he began stressing his muscles and his energy as a dark purple light began to focus at his extended palms.  "Let's see you take this.  STRAIGHT FROM THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL!  _SEVENTH GATE!!  SCREAMS OF HATRED!!_"

                The force that suddenly hit Ranma was like being hit by a speeding Bullet Train with loudspeakers constantly blaring the high-pitched screams of thousands of tortured souls.

                The sound alone nearly had Ranma's ears bleeding, but the force of the blast was worse than if she had allowed that red shot to hit!

                As Ranma clutched her ears, Dark Ranma dropped the attack, smirking viciously.

                Pulling his arm back, he held his elbow bent, and then straightened it out.  As he did a blade of purple energy extended from his wrist.

                "So, the Seventh Gate was too much for you.  Hehe, it's too bad..." As he came close to Ranma, he held the blade dangerously close to her head, "but I suppose this way I can think of _other_ ways to have some -fun- with you."

                "WHITE DRAGON!!"

                Dark Ranma was suddenly blinded by a flash of light so bright that it shone like the hidden sun and lit up the blackened sky.

                Ranma stood, holding one side of her head with one hand.  "I'm not done yet, not by a long-shot." Her body was flashing brightly and in her eyes burned the fires of determination.

                As the pulse of light died down, Dark Ranma rubbed his eyes one more time before growling anew.  "You miserable, lowly girl!  I won't let you leave this place alive!" Pulling his hands back, he threw them forward along with a number of purple pulses of energy.  "SIXTH GATE!!"

                As the energy pulses hit the ground, they formed small black-skinned demons, rising out of the dirt and snickering like the little goblins they were.  "LEGIONS OF HATRED!!"

                Ranma thought that she was prepared for anything, but this was too much for her.

                "And now that the Sixth Gate is open, this city will feel _Hell's Wrath!_"

                As Ranma watched, several of the demons advanced on her, but several more moved out into the city, prepared to do what they would with the people of Tokyo.

                Ranma shook her head angrily.  "No..."  Looking at her hand, she went over her options.  'I'm running really low on energy, all those Dragon attacks have really taken a lot out of me.  But _he's_ still going strong... wait.  He has yet to use any of the other gates over again.  Is it because he can't?  That might be it.'

                Deciding she needed more time, Ranma turned to another technique.  "Green Dragon!"

                Throwing a ball of energy at the ground, it exploded into a haze of green energy, which surrounded and enshrouded the legions of small demons, leaving them confused and blind.

                Ranma looked down at her double, who looked around at the shroud of green haze with a stoic gaze.  "Oh giiiiiirrrrllll, where aaarrrree yooouuu?" Even as he spoke, more bolts of energy came off of him, each of which sprouted a new monster from the dirt of the park grounds.

                'Shoot, that took the last out of me.  Well at least it's low enough that he can't sense me.' Looking around, she wondered just what options she had left.  'If only I had enough energy to use a Blue Dragon, then I could use the Rainbow Dragon Restoration.' Looking at her hand, she watched as the last few bits of energy flowed alongside her blood.  'But I barely have enough to keep my heart beating, if I use any more, I won't even _be_ here long enough to _use_ the Rainbow Dragon.'

                *Ting*

                Ranma's eyes widened suddenly.  'That's it!  I CAN use it!'

                Jumping down from the Lamppost, she went to exactly the place she knew she needed to go.

                Dark Ranma had had enough of the green haze.  'As much as I hate those Amazons, their techniques do come in useful from time to time...'  "HIRYUU SHOTEN HA!!"

                As the tornado spun and blew, fueled entirely by his own energy, it blew away the green haze, revealing Ranma standing confidently no more than a few meters from him.

                Dark Ranma frowned only slightly.  "Why are you smiling?  You know you can't win...  Ha!  You have no energy left!"

                Ranma put forward a long piece of metal like it held all the answers.

                "What kind of idiot do you take me for?  You're going to use a broken sword to defeat me?"

                Ranma snickered.  "Hehe, in this sword is the cold energy that I used to break it only minutes ago, and it's still cold.  And since the energy from all my other attacks are still in this area, I can use it all to call on the Rainbow Dragon!" Ranma stood proudly, as if she had already won.  "And _it_ will restore _all my strength!_  HAHA!!" For a moment, Ranma could have sworn that she felt Akane's angry aura.

~~

                "YOU IDIOT!!  DON'T JUST STAND THERE TALKING ABOUT IT!  JUST DO IT!!!  THAT RAINBOW THINGY AIN'T GONNA CALL ITSELF YA KNOW!!!"

                All of the others present were working furiously to try to calm Akane down a bit.

                Happosai sighed from his position to Akane's front.  'Ah, I'm glad now that I told them of the Rainbow Dragon...'  "Eheeheeheeheehee!!!"

                "PERVERT!!!" Akane suddenly malletted Happosai straight into the ground, but still found herself short one piece of pink undergarment.  "HEY!  GIVE THAT BACK!"

                Happosai hopped away, leaving Akane to fume over the loss of her new bra.

                Shampoo's cry brought Akane back to the problem at hand.  "What is it Shampoo?"

                "Look!"

~~ Moments ago ~~

                "Is that right?" Putting his hand forward, Dark Ranma looked Ranma in the eye.  "Fourth Gate!"

                Suddenly, a stream of fire shot forward, straight at Ranma.

                As Ranma dodged, she managed to avoid most of the flames and got away without even a single singe!  "Ha!  You need to work on your aim!"

                Dark Ranma smirked... darkly.  "Oh?"

                Ranma looked confused for a moment, then figured out what he meant.  The sword's blade was no longer cold.  "Oh no!"

                "Oh yes!  Haha!  You're finished."

                Ranma clutched her head in frustration as she looked at the ground.  'Now what?  ...' "RRRAAAAGHHHH!!!!" With a loud shout, she hit the ground in frustration.

                As she stood there, cracks started to form in the ground.

                "Hehe, breaking rocks won't help you now."

                *TANG!  SsssshhhhhHHHH!!!!*

                "Rocks no, water mains?  Yes!" As Ranma allowed the water to douse her, she began her attack.

                "WHAT!?  NO!"

                As she announced her attack, time seemed to slow, but she could see the hundreds of small demons advancing on her all at the same time.  "Energy lost, energy used, all comes back to the user..." Stretching out in preparation of the attack, she shouted the last verse.  "RAINBOW DRAGON RESTORATION!  AAAAHHHH!!!!!"

                For a moment, it seemed like a reverse explosion was taking place right in the middle of the city.  As it went on, the light coming off of Ranma intensified as her strength returned to her, the seven dragons recalled.

                In an instant, Dark Ranma was yet again on the ground as Ranma had fed him a knuckle sandwich.

                Ranma flexed her hand as she watched Dark Ranma get off the ground.  As he did, all the little dirt demons fell to the ground, the power of the sixth gate cut off from them.  "And now all your gates have been used, and they're all useless, aren't they?"

                Dark Ranma wiped the blood from his mouth.  "I'm not finished yet, you _useless wretch!!_" As Dark Ranma lashed out with a powerful kick, Ranma jumped backward.

                "Ha!  Lots of good that does you!" Ranma pulled back her right hand as it began to glow a bright red.

~~

                Cologne's eyes grew two times their size.  'No!'

                Akane shouted in anticipation.  "DO IT RANMA!  GO ON!"

                Shampoo noticed her Great Grandmother's expression, and wasn't quite so excited as Akane.  'Great Grandmother?'

~~

                "RED DRAGON!"

                Dark Ranma covered himself with as strong a defense against the fire as he could muster.

                *Splash*

                The fire that hit him was surprisingly weak.  'If that was not an attack, then what?'

                Dark Ranma risked a glance at his opponent, only to find the girl gone.

                Ranma stood there; wet, but male again.  "You see, unlike you, I have this little curse that's activated by water.  But other than that, you and me are the same person.  And by the way, my name's Ranma; and if you thought you were in trouble before, then just LOOK AT ME NOW!!"

                Dark Ranma stood as he cupped an area with his hands, forming an attack.  "I understand then.  Perhaps we should just end this now?" As he crouched over, a bright ball of dark energy formed between his hands.

                Ranma went into a very similar pose, crouching with two hands holding a growing ball of pulsing white energy.

~~

                "NO!  IF THEY TOUCH, THEY'LL BOTH BE DESTROYED!!!"

                Akane stopped in her cheering to look at the elder Amazon. "W-what!?"

                "The power of the pearl is limited!  If they touch, while both male, while inside that power, then it will destroy them both!"

                Akane's eyes went wide, wider than even Cologne's.  "R-r-**_RANMA!!!!!_**"

~~

                Ranma pushed all the energy he had left into that one last attack, just as Dark Ranma did to his.

                "SEVEN DARK GATES--"

                "SEVEN DEADLY DRAGONS--"

                "_OF HELL'S FURY!!_"

                "_OF ETERNAL LIGHT!!_"

                When the two incredible powers of the attacks collided, they merged and began to crackle with an 'otherworldly' energy, seeming to crush the very ground beneath them.

                As the increasingly large ball of energy (which was once two energies but was now one) continued to grow, it pushed against the ground so hard that it caused the roof of the underground building to collapse, creating a gigantic hole in the ground between the two Ranma's.

                Ranma sighed even as he felt all his energy being drained from him.  'Akane... I'm sorry.'

                "**_RANMA!!!!!_**"

                Ranma perked up upon hearing that oh-so-familiar sound.  'Akane!?'

                Looking to one side, he saw her.  'She's right there!  She's not dead!'

                In that last moment, he wanted nothing more than to go to her, but the ball of energy wouldn't have any of that, as it took that exact moment to explode.

                The blast was far more than simply incredible.  It created a crater nearly two kilometers wide and took both of the fighters that made it with it.

                But the others, who had left the area long ago, were safe.

                Suon Tendo turned to Tatewaki Kuno.  "So, young Kuno, what would you say is the next step?"

                Kuno looked down a city street.  "I believe that the rest of Tokyo; nay, the world deserves to know of Ranma's demise, at his own hand."

                Suon nodded, agreeing.  After having counted his students; who all smartly joined together in this, their meeting place; he started off with Kuno to notify the public of the death of two Saotome's.

~~

                Nabiki noticed the lack of Ranma's aura.

                "RRAAAGH!!" Hitting the table she had been anxiously sitting at, she expressed her frustration at his loss.

                "Darnit!  And I thought he would last too!" Calming down, she went back to thinking.  "Well, I suppose I could always go back home.  I _was_ kidnapped, after all."

                Slipping her head down to the table, she smiled.  "And I don't _have_ to tell them of what _I_ got out of this!"

~~

                Akane couldn't stand anymore.  For a long time, as long as she could, she kept looking into the middle of the bright explosion, the one that, in the pearl, destroyed a good portion of the city.  And also destroyed Ranma.

                'Ranma...'

                Everyone in the park lowered their heads.

                Ranma was gone.

~~

                Genma suddenly felt like he should be crying, right next to Suon, who was already crying.

                "Oh Saotome!  Did you see the look of caring in my daughter's eyes?  Our school will have a new heir in no time!"

                Genma laughed drunkenly alongside his friend.  "Oh yesh!  Sho many shildren!  Haha!"

                The two of them began to sing a silly song in their drunken stupor.

~~

                Akane fell to the ground, even as the last of the otherworldly explosion began its dying pulses.

                "Ranma..." A sudden flashback from only minutes ago came to her.  Cologne had looked seriously into her eye.  'This is not a game, or a joke, miss Tendo.  Ranma's life is in _very_ real danger right now!'

                At that time, she really just didn't care anymore about being strong, or being right, or even being at all.  As she curled up against the ground, she began to cry in earnest.

                Nabiki sensed her younger sister's distress, and tried to comfort her.

                As Akane leaned into the sympathetic shoulder, Nabiki wondered when that guy would let off the horn.

                And for that matter, when that stupid explosion would finally die?

                Cologne was the first to notice it.  "Do you hear that?"

                Shampoo looked around, the noise seemed to be coming from every direction at once!  "What is it?  Great Grandmother?"

                "That's... someone shouting!  As if in pain!"

                As Nabiki stood, Akane began looking around.

                At the center, where the blast in the pearl took place, the light was beginning to grow, rather than dim.

                "W-what's going on?" Nabiki was already starting to shield her eyes.

                Cologne looked surprised and confused. "I don't-AUGH!"

                Everyone cringed as a strange wind picked up, trying to blow them all away from that spot.

                As the light intensified, so did the shouting.  It continued to get louder, and louder, and louder, until it was as if the one shouting was right there!

                And when Akane looked, looked right into the center of the large ball of light, she saw a figure.

                The pigtail gave it away immediately.  "RANMA!!"

                He was stretched out and had his hands stretched with the fingers pointing up, and his palms pointing out.  Just beyond his left palm was a small ball of bright white light, and in the right, a small ball of deep black.

                As Ranma's face suddenly shot forward, he thrust both hands together, ramming the two energies into each other.

                A bright light exploded from that point, causing all of them to turn their heads to protect their eyes.

                *Pthlump*

                And then it was over.

                Akane went over to that spot, where there was now the unconscious form of Ranma, laying on the ground.

                Slowly at first, and then moving to frantically she began shaking him, trying to get him to wake up.

                "Ranma!  Wake up!"

                "Ngh... uh, A-Akane?"

                "Ranma!" Akane suddenly wrapped him in a tight hug, barely allowing him any space to breathe.  "Ranma, don't you ever do that again!  If you died...!"

                Akane stopped when Ranma put his arm around her shoulder.  As she quieted down, Ranma whispered his confession.  "Akane... really, it still feels like a dream, though it might have been.  But I thought you were dead!  And I... I just couldn't live with that..."

                They both just stayed there for a time, not willing to move.

                Nabiki sighed overdramatically with her hands clasped at the side of her head and mock-wispiness in her eyes.  "Ah, young love!" In a split second her mocking pose changed to a look of tired disinterest, "Can we go home now?  Kasumi's probably got dinner ready, and there's nothing more to do out here now."

                Akane looked at Ranma who looked at Akane.  "Uh, yeah, sure!" They both began laughing nervously as they stood up.

                As they left, Cologne told her heir to leave for home.  "Tomorrow isn't likely to be any less busy than today was, so you should get your rest."

                "Yes, Great Grandmother.  Shampoo just glad Ranma okay."

                "We all are for that, child."

                After she was sure she was alone she began looking around.

                Right next to where Ranma had been found, she looking in the ankle-high grass and found what she thought she would.

                It was a large pearl, about two and a half inches across.

                "What's the saying?  'Something so evil hidden by so much beauty'?"

                Cologne nodded.  "Yes, Happosai.  Just like the sorceress from who's heart it was originally made." Turning to the side, she looked Happosai in the face.  "You know, Happosai, I almost wonder why you didn't steal this artifact so long ago, when you stole so many others?"

                Happosai snickered.  "And face down _my_ negative?  My dear Cologne!  You and I both know that would have been disasterous!"

                Cologne smiled as she pogo'd away.  'Indeed it would have, but at least we wouldn't have had to worry about seeing you anymore.'

                When she got back to the restaurant she went straight to the back room.

                Opening a sealed box, she placed the cream-colored ball inside it's padded walls.  'I'm glad I finally gave him the test, though I probably should have done so sooner.  But I can't argue with the results.'

                The last half of the old poem was written on a slip of paper tacked to the small box.  "Only true love will break through, just as two hearts become one."

~~

                Before going in the house, Ranma stopped at the door.  "Excuse me Akane, I'll be right back!"

                "Where are you going?"

                Ranma smiled.  "I'm going to get some milk."

                With that, he left.

~~

                Somewhere, about five blocks from the Tendo's, Ranma was sitting atop one of many tall buildings.

                Extending his arm, he pointed his hand downward and a blade of energy, purple swirling alongside yellow, came to life out of the end of his wrist.

                "I almost can't believe the old hag was holding out on me.  Oh well, it doesn't really matter now." Allowing the blade to disappear, he started a mini tornado around his lower arm.  "I probably know more of their techniques now than Shampoo!  Hehe."

                Stopping his revelation, he turned to leave for the store.

~~ Five minutes later ~~

                *Knock knock*

                "Ranma?  Where's the milk?" Akane didn't appear TOO angry, despite that the pigtailed boy had come back empty-handed.

                Ranma rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.  "Uh, I forgot... I have no money."

                Kasumi noticed his presence and smiled.  "Oh that's alright Ranma, supper's ready already anyway.  And you should probably be in bed resting after your ordeal anyway!"

                Ranma walked in the door laughing.  "Yeah, well, I really am sorry about that.  In all the confusion, I didn't remember until after I forgot."

                Akane started looking at him funny.

                "What?" Ranma didn't really like the look he was getting.

                "If that made any sense I would probably be angry with you for some reason.  But instead I'm just confused."

                Ranma just laughed, and the others followed his example.

                They didn't even notice the absence of their fathers.

~~

                "Shuon ol' buddy, we ish in trubble."

                "Yesh, Gemma, I fink sho."

                The police cruiser drove off with the two of them tied up in the back seat.

                ~~~~~~***   End of  'Another Side'   ***~~~~~~

                Well, that's all of it.  There's no more!  Seriously!

                Encore?

Alex Ultra: Creator of Eternal Realm

                LATER


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